Malcolm Ross (literary critic)
|birth_place = Fredericton, New Brunswick |death_date = November |death_place = Halifax, Nova Scotia |death_cause = pneumonia |alma_mater = University of New Brunswick University of Toronto Cornell University |other_names = |known_for = |occupation = |nationality = |awards = Order of Canada Lorne Pierce Medal }} Malcolm Mackenzie Ross, OC, FRSC (January 2, 1911 - November 4, 2002) was a notable Canadian literary critic. Life Education Ross was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, the son of Cora Elizabeth Hewitson and Charles Duff Ross. He attended Fredericton High School before receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Philosophy from the University of New Brunswick in 1933. He received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Toronto in 1934 and a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1941. Prior to receiving his Ph.D. from Cornell, he had lectured there in its English department. From 1941-42, Ross taught at Indiana University Bloomington. World War II John Grierson, the head of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), asked Ross to become the Head of Distribution at the NFB in 1942. There Ross' job was to supervise the distribution of all NFB productions, both theatrical and nontheatrical. This included rural, industrial, and trade union circuits, the preview library, and relations with volunteer projection services. He was also responsible for all foreign distribution and the translation of Canadian films into the leading European languages. He was also involved in advising the making of many propaganda films and, therefore, got to know directors such as Joris Ivens who did Action Stations and Corvette Port Arthur for the NFB. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) awarded a special Oscar for the work that the NFB did during World War II. In 1945, when Grierson was preparing to leave the NFB, he suggested Ross as one of 3 possibilities for his replacement; however, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King decided instead to downsize the NFB since the war was over.Gary Evans. John Grierson and the National Film Board. Toronto: The University of Toronto Press, 1985. pp.: 233-237 Academic career From 1945 to 1950, Ross taught at the University of Manitoba. In 1949, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and spent six months studying at Harvard University and six months in Pasadena, California, writing Poetry & Dogma: The transfiguration of eucharistic symbols in seventeenth century English poetry. In 1950, Ross became a professor of English at Queen's University. He was head of the Department of English from 1957 to 1960 and held the James Cappon Professorship in English from 1960 to 1962. In 1962, he went to the University of Toronto, where he was the Dean of Arts from 1962 to 1968. From 1968 to 1982, he was Thomas McCulloch Professor at Dalhousie University. Ross was an inspirational teacher and humanitarian who cared for his students. Given the number of years he taught and the range of Canadian universities where he taught, he influenced countless students who themselves would have a productive effect on Canada and elsewhere: A number of their names would read like the index to a Who's Who. Ross also aided and promoted struggling promising writers some of whom have achieved international renown. He was also among the original Editorial Advisors of the scholarly journal Dionysius. Later career Ross founded the New Canadian Library imprint, published by McClelland & Stewart, and for several years was its general editor. In 2007 the University of Toronto Press published New Canadian Library: The Ross-McClelland years, 1952-1978, a work by Janet Beverly Friskney that provides an account of the New Canadian Library during the years of Ross's editorship. He served on the Canada Council and was a chief policymaker as George Woodcock points out in Strange Bedfellows: The State and the Arts in Canada, wherein Woodcock relates the weekend he spent with Ross, Alex Colville, Dennis Lee, Gratien Gelinas, Pierre Trottier, and R. Murray Schafer as guests of Governor General Jules Leger at Rideau Hall in the autumn of 1976 to discuss and formulate a policy for the arts and culture in Canada. He died of pneumonia in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Recognition In 1976, Ross was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his contributions to numerous educational bodies and for his work as an author and as editor of the New Canadian Library". In 1982 he won the Lorne Pierce Medal. Ross received honorary degrees from: St. Thomas (1976); Trent (1982); Dalhousie (1983); Queen's (1989); Windsor (1989); Toronto (1990); and Acadia (1991). In 1986, Scotland's University of Edinburgh also awarded Ross an honorary degree. Publications Non-fiction * Poetry and Dogma: The transfiguration of eucharistic symbols in seventeenth century English poetry. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1954; Octagon Books, 1969. * Milton's Royalism: A study of the conflict of symbol and idea in the poems. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press (Cornell Studies in English #34), 1943; Russell & Russell, 1970. * The Impossible Sum of Our Traditions: Reflections on Canadian literature. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1986. Edited * Our Sense of Identity: A book of Canadian essays. Toronto: Ryerson Press (Canadian Literature series), 1954. * The Arts in Canada: A stock-taking at mid-century. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1958. * Poets of the Confederation: Duncan Campbell Scott, Archibald Lampman, Bliss Carman, Charles G.D. Roberts. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart (New Canadian Library), 1960. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia.Malcolm Ross], New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia, St. Thomas University. Web, Sep. 15, 2013. See also *List of literary critics References External links ;About *Malcolm Ross in the New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia * Malcolm Ross issue, Canadian Poetry: Studies/Documents/Reviews, No. 52 (Spring/Summer, 2003) *Interview with Malcolm Ross Studies in Canadian Literature 1984. *Malcolm Ross and the New Canadian Library: Making it real or making a difference?, Studies in Canadian Literature 2000. Category:1911 births Category:2002 deaths Category:Canadian literary critics Category:Canadian university and college faculty deans Category:Cornell University alumni Category:Dalhousie University faculty Category:Deaths from pneumonia Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Guggenheim Fellows Category:Officers of the Order of Canada Category:People from Fredericton Category:Queen's University faculty Category:University of Manitoba faculty Category:University of New Brunswick alumni Category:University of Toronto alumni Category:University of Toronto faculty